Category: Virtual Assistant posts

Working from home may be fun as you do it at your own time and schedule. It is common knowledge that the joys of working from home are equally threatened by the joys of procastination and the temptations of lying on the couch and watching telly. I can think of a lot of good things and advantages of working from home but one disadvantage is that it tends to distort the boundaries between work and personal life.

So how do we stay productive, and at the same time stay sane?

Set your working hours.

Commit yourself to office-like hours routine just like you do when in full time work, that way you are more likely to get work done during those hours. Working from home is really cool and one good thing is you can set your own working hours. For instance I mostly work in the night to correspond with the USA and Canada time zones. I live in Cyprus btw, and most of my clients are in the USA and Canada. Clients? You ask. Yes, I am a Virtual Assistant and Blogger. (Enough of me) Routines differ, some people work effectively in the morning, others in the afternoon, still others at the witching hour. If you work better at night, and the kind of work that you do permits it, start work at 7:00pm. But whatever your hours are, make yourself a routine, and be committed to it. Read more about my Journey (Virtual Assistance).

Take short breaks

These are important! Short breaks like making and eating lunch, can recharge you to do better work. It is wrong to assume you need to be working 100% of the time while you’re home to be more productive.

Exercise

Light exercise like standing up to stretch, going out for walks, popping into the garden and, once or twice a day. On the other hand a more vigorous workout will keep your mind more alert and your body less desk-shaped. Taking some time to exercise will also ensure your relationship with the home office doesn’t feel constricting and claustrophobic.

Get goals

Working from home means there is no line manager who will come for appraisals so you need to invent your own checking systems. Plan out what you’ll be working on ahead of time. Schedule, if possible, around your natural schedule. Make sure you follow the laid out plan. Believe me at the end of the day you want to feel like you are going somewhere and ensure that years don’t pass by without any noticeable achievements in money or, especially, job satisfaction.

Me-time

Take some time to do something you love which is not remunerative, something for you. In your schedule allow time for self-improvement and self-care, whether that’s painting, reading, creative writing. Work can feel like fun at times, but it’s rarely the real thing. You can take on something useless – as in not remunerative or take some time to reward yourself – for example visit a Spa or a Nail Bar to get your nails done. Me time is essential for mental health.

Choose a dedicated work space.

Have a place dedicated space to working (it doesn’t have to be big). It could be a certain table, chair, local coffee shop. That way, when you enter it or sit down, you know straight away what you are there to do. Having a dedicated working space helps you get into the right frame of mind. On that note if you choose a room make your environment clean and bright.

Interact with other humans.

This may sound funny but this is very important. As a human being you need to interact with other people. I know there are deadlines and big goals to achieve but just take an hour or two during the day to talk to other people. Answer emails, call and a have a chat with a friend. This may also boost your level of creativity and energy as it may relax you.

Know when to stop.

When I started blogging I would work long hours as the pressure to perform was upon me. This may make you feel like you have worked hard and done a lot in a day but it may take a toll on your body and health. Avoid working late into the night. If need be, set defined times when you are going to work, and then when it passes, STOP. You can allow a leeway of an hour or an hour and a half but make sure that you do not end up letting work run your life.

Cheers and happy working from home.

»»I may have made you think of hiring a Virtual Assistance. Before you do that check out Before you hire a VA.

What you put on every page on your blog is very important, when you create a page it will be indexed in the SERPs (search engine result pages) every time you publish a blog post from your website. Search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo and Ask.com spread your materials and content to the world wide web for you for FREE, thus your brand is out there for everyone to see and evaluate. Blogging alone places and markets your content and brand out to the public thus it is very important to create worthwhile and authentic posts. How? You ask. Below some of the tips you can use to create great content for your blog.

Do Your Research

Blogging about a certain niche does not make professional bloggers experts. Your audience deserves quality information so please do your research! Professional bloggers (myself included) are not keen on their audience knowing that they don’t actually know everything. But to be honest, most of the great stuff that you see and read in blogs come from hours of research. Sometimes we don’t know anything about a topic before we sit down to write about it.

It is always good for one to use various sources of information to do the research. It almost goes without saying, but relying solely on Wikipedia as a primary source is almost always a bad idea. It is very true that Wikipedia does have a wide range of brilliantly researched articles, but is it dependable? Unfortunately no! There are many sources out there that you can use to do your research depending with your audience.

Well-researched blog posts can differentiate your content from your competitors. Being known as a reference point or a trusted source of information in your industry will help make your blog and brand stand out. I find that utilizing a variety of sources helps with gathering. It may sound outdated in this day of the World Wide Web but libraries are a great source of good information too.

Create Strong Headlines

The headline, or title, of your blog post must be created to capture the interest of potential readers and your intended audience. Keeping in mind that thousands of headlines and topics flash by in social media newsfeeds or in search results. Make use of great keyword phrase so that people searching on that particular subject will easily find that topic in your blog. Make sure the keyword phrase is included in your headline. A strong headline will sell the whole article to your audience; it will communicate the full message to your intended reader plus an added bonus of grabbing and keeping their attention until they finish reading the whole body text. (more…)

As a business entity before hiring a Virtual Assistant (VA) your house should be in order. I understand that the need to free up some time on the part of the business owner is what prompts one to look for VA help. However letting one in your business without the correct business structure may do more harm than good. It is quite an interesting achievement to be able to take in a new member to your group. Here are some tips you may need to consider before hiring a VA.

What skills do you need?

Which area can use an extra hand? Is it your website, social media, web analytics area? Maybe you are looking for a bookkeeper? Do you need anyone with strong writing skills? Know the skills you need in advance, this will ensure that you find a VA who is the best suit for the job and that you get the best help. On this, you may want to consider hiring someone with qualifications that no one in your group possesses. (more…)

A journey that I will forever cherish. Someone I regard as wise told me that the best way to make a living in your life is doing it through something that you love. After scratching for eight long years working as a full-time Assistant Administrator I finally met up with something that literary woke me up. I realised that virtual assistance will not just free me up from the 9-5 job but it is doing something I love using my expert knowledge and experience at the same time running my own business. That was just fantastic!!!

What I do as a VA

I am a General VA but I have plans to niche into being a Psychologists and Physiotherapists VA. So, that means I do a variety of tasks which include:

-Inputting and updating different types of records.
-Generating reports or spreadsheets.
-Posting on social media on behalf of clients.
-Manage clients email accounts. (more…)